British Gas email

[lollipoprainbow]

So the dreaded email has finally arrived from British Gas regarding the price increases from April. I could cry they have estimated that I will be paying £5000 a year on gas and £650 a year in electricity. WTAF. I live in a small two bed flat and am out of the house all day during the week. Barely have heating on at weekends. Help help help. Any suggestions gratefully received.

That is crazy. Di you use that much gas? Ours is expected to rise to almost £3k but 4 bed detached.

Is that a fixed rate they are offering?
How does it compare to the price cap rates

Your gas amount sounds mental! Are they using wrong estimates or something?

Hello, does it say what your annual usage in terms of k/ws is? What do you usually pay? It must surely be an error, it's increasing by 54% so if for example you usually use £1000 a year, that would go up to £1540, but over £5000 seems very excessive.

I got my email yesterday, mines going up to an estimated £1200 a year (3 bed terraced) however we were renovating last April-august so I expect it to be more as last years usage wasn't a true reflection xx

That can’t be right. I’m with British Gas. Are you sure it hasn’t estimated 5000kwh per year?

I’d go back to them and ask for your gas use in kWh during 2019-2020 (ie pre-pandemic so it’s more realistic of your future use) and check whether you really will be using as much as they predict.

Please check it isn't a scam. Sister received one yhat looked very real but luckily gor suspicious before clicking on a link in it.

I just got my BG email - mine will go up to £4k for electricity (we don't have gas).

It is what it is. I can't do anything about it and I'm not going to stop using the cooker or dishwasher.

Do you have the British Gas app?

You can check previous years usage on that, goes back a few years too.

My gas unit rate is going up by approximately 85% in April. This is on top of 50% they have already raised it since last summer. It's actually obscene.

1. Were you previously on a fixed tariff?

1. Have you been giving regular meter readings?

1. Are they proposing to switch you to a fixed tariff or is the projection based on the variable tariff?

Overall, £5000 a year is excessive gas usage for any sized property that barely uses the heating, let alone a 2 bedroom flat so getting on top of what meter readings look like is quite important. The average 2 bed property uses around 10,000 kwh a year. What was your kwh usage for the last 12 months? If it's substantially higher than that then you may have a meter issue that needs looking at.

Ultimately, this is just a projection, but you do need to make sure your gas is being read correctly.

Also from Q1 and Q3 take a closer look at your tariff details and whether you've been auto enrolled on a fixed tariff which will invariably be more expensive than the cap at this point.

There was a woman on here a few weeks ago who thought she owed thousands more than she actually did for a car lease because she couldn't multiply miles by pence. Are you sure the sums are right?

I'd be getting them out to check your meters because unless you're growing cannabis, there's something not quite right.

Shop around, there’s dozens of comparison websites to help you, you aren’t stuck with them, you must know that.

Look for a variable rate, the prices you’ve been quoted are probably fixes. There is TONS of info out there on this, you aren’t trapped with that supplier you know.

Is that a typo for £500? If you're not using the heating much, and have been quoted £650 for electricity that you presumably use more of, I'm at a loss as to how £5000 can be correct?

First things first, is that estimation based on a fixed tariff price or the variable rate? Secondly, what was the last figure for your annual consumption in kWh for gas and electricity?

@lollipoprainbow

So the dreaded email has finally arrived from British Gas regarding the price increases from April. I could cry they have estimated that I will be paying £5000 a year on gas and £650 a year in electricity. WTAF. I live in a small two bed flat and am out of the house all day during the week. Barely have heating on at weekends. Help help help. Any suggestions gratefully received.

Now take a breath and think rationally. That gas figure cannot be right.

How much are you paying now? Your new price from April will be 2-3 times that figure. You haven't been paying £2k for your gas in a small flat when you're out all the time and barely have the heating on have you?

It might be 5000 kWh per year. That would be about right.

Your letter should give you unit costs for gas and electricity and the daily standing charge for each. What are they?

Have you checked the small print to see what they're actually basing that prediction on? I've recently been shuftied over to them from PFP and its been based on the same amount of gas and elec units that the price cap has been based on. Which is a fair whack higher than my actual usage. British gas refuse to base it on my historical usage from my own records going back 7 years (yes I'm a geek and proud!) so it's an absolute waste of time. Don't panic until you've figured out how accurate it is.

Fed up to the back teeth with BG to be honest.

Tell me different things each time I call them. Their only aim seems to be to get customers to overpay and be in credit so as to lend them money!

To think I was paying £57 per month for both last year with peoples energy . I need to look at the email again properly and query it with them. I was transferred to BG after people's energy went bust last year. They keep sending me statements for November and December then cancelling it. Don't think they know what they are doing to be honest.

I must admit I laughed out loud when I read the email then panic set in !

It could be that they've mucked up a transfer from a defunct supplier.

Do you have meter readings on or around the transfer and a closing bill from PE?

You need to complain to British Gas and go to Ofgem if they don't sort it out.

@lollipoprainbow

To think I was paying £57 per month for both last year with peoples energy . I need to look at the email again properly and query it with them. I was transferred to BG after people's energy went bust last year. They keep sending me statements for November and December then cancelling it. Don't think they know what they are doing to be honest.

The SoLR process is notoriously crap - even for the suppliers.

Hopefully you took a meter reading the day People's Energy announced they were ceasing to trade. Make sure British Gas have opened your account with that meter reading because the prices will definitely be much higher than People's Energy hence the reason they went bust, they didn't hedge properly

It makes more sense that your projection email reads like a work of fiction if you're a SoLR customer. Their systems cannot accept 3rd party data to work out the projections so the information that comes out for some reason is bloody stupid it's not great for long standing customers either

Just double check the tariff you're on, it should either be a favourable one from People's Energy or the standard variable and keep taking regular meter readings.